Alien Nation: Why We Can't Talk

Excerpt from my March Carolina Compass article and my upcoming book to be released this spring. Watch for future articles in the Compass, too.?

Alien Nation, Why We Can't Talk.

One of the most divisive errors which has been promulgated by secularism is that we can’t argue about morals or beliefs: that those are only feelings or opinions or tastes; that they are not subject to reason. This is the primary error which allows us to reject any religious authority.

Religions are the most common systems by which we codify values. Yet, they vary greatly in their values. The secularist denies any religious value, but creates his own value system from whatever he believes is “right.” The difficulty is they can’t all be right. We must use reason to discern the truth or false ideas in any moral argument. If it were true that morality is based only on feelings, we would have no basis for any discussion, much less any culture or civilization at all.

So we must relearn how to argue. The first element of practical argument is respect for the other. We are not allowed to attack his motive or him as a person. We can only do this if we see the other person as a human being, worthy in himself, who has made an error in his thinking.

Just as a doctor seeks to correct a physical illness, we want to find the cause of our opponent’s “thinking illness.” Just as the doctor hears the heartbeat, we must listen. Listen to your opponent’s argument in order to first hear his heart.  What underlies his argument?  Our primary concern must be to listen without thinking of how to answer. We must see ourselves as our opponent sees us.  It is only then that we can begin to really hear his viewpoint. And, sometimes in listening, we discover that the error in thinking is ours.